HomeWise Insurance Group

HomeWise, the Tampa, Florida-based property insurer, has elected Thomas (Tom) A. Lee to its Board of Directors.

Lee brings more than 25 years of experience in the residental property market, and in public policy and state government, having recently served as President of the Florida Senate from 2004 to 2006.

Says HomeWise President and CEO Dale Hammond, "Tom's relevant background in both home building and public service in Florida makes him a great assist to HomeWise, which specializes in providing residental property insurance to Floridians."

HomeWise, the homeowners insurance company, has ranked in the top 10 insurance companies operating in Florida, according to The Florida Association of Insurance Agents' (FAIA) 2008 Company Survey. The FAIA reported that 584 member insurance agencies responded to the survey which allows agents to company insurance companies in a number of areas.

The survey asks FAIA members to rank any five of the insurance companies they have a relationship with in nine categories. Included among the categories are: competitiveness, automation, management approach, agent compensation, and underwriting practices. The survey also includes four service categories, one each for personal lines, commercial lines, claims, and accounting and dispute resolution. Each of those nine categories are then broken down further into subcategories that target more specific items such as how a carrier handles quotes, underwrites new business, or services renewal policies.

For more information about the FAIA 2008 Company Survey, click on the following link: www.FloridaUnderwriter.com

HomeWise, the company that specializes in providing quality homeowners insurance at fair prices, announced today that it will offer homeowners insurance in Louisiana for single-family dwellings. The news means more market choice for Louisiana homeowners.

Says HomeWise President & CEO Dale Hammond, "Similar to the situation in Florida, rising insurance rates and fewer insurance companies doing business in Louisiana has made it tough for Louisiana homeowners over the last several years. We have developed a program for Louisiana that provides traditional homeowners insurance coverage, quality service, and fast and fair claims service at competitive rates. We expect it will be as successful as the coverage we have offered in Florida over the last several years."

HomeWise received approval from the Louisiana Department of Insurance and will start offering homeowners insurance later this year. HomeWise has an "A" Exceptional rating from Demotech, a leading independent financial analysis firm. Homeowners should contact their Independent Insurance Agent to learn more about the HomeWise program. More information is also available at www.HomeWiseInsurance.com.

Karen Clark & Company announced today that it issued the first IMARC™ Data Score to HomeWise Insurance Companies. HomeWise earned an IMARC™ Data Score of 675 (Excellent).

HomeWise was the first company to receive an IMARC™ Data Score as a result of the rigorous IMARC™ Data Review process. The review process involved a detailed evaluation of internal data processes carried out through a series of onsite meetings with HomeWise, their policy quoting system and policy management system vendors, their agents and field inspectors. The HomeWise exposure data used for catastrophe modeling was thoroughly analyzed and tested for resolution, completeness and accuracy using independent data sources, methodologies and actual engineering surveys of the insured properties.

The IMARC™ Data Score was included in the disclosure of the Mangrove Re Ltd. Principal At-Risk Variable Rate Note Program. Mangrove Re Ltd. issued notes on May 30, 2008, providing $210 million of coverage against hurricane losses in Florida.

"I believe the IMARC™ Data Score is important to the future of a healthy Insurance-Linked Securities market and will become a major consideration when it comes to evaluating future ILS deals," said Dr. John Seo of Fermat Capital Management, LLC. "Of course, no single factor in isolation should be the sole basis of an investment decision, but I expect that as time goes by an IMARC™ Data Score will come to be expected by investors for any significant indemnity-based ILS deal. If the IMARC™ Data Score is not given, we would want to know why."

"The IMARC™ Data Review is independent of any particular catastrophe model," said Karen Clark, President and CEO of Karen Clark & Company. "The review process is applicable to the exposure data elements used to assess the catastrophe loss potential for all regions, perils and vendor models. It is a standard process that results in an exposure data score providing external stakeholders with a consistent and comparable measure of exposure data quality across companies," continued Ms. Clark.

"At HomeWise, it's a top priority to obtain high quality data on the properties we insure," said Dale Hammond, President of HomeWise. "This enables us to have more confidence in our catastrophe model results and our risk management decisions. To that end, we have invested significantly in high quality systems, processes and data, and we wanted to have a team of independent experts evaluate our processes and data relative to best practices and standard benchmarks," continued Mr. Hammond.

"Reinsurers and catastrophe bond investors have been urging us to develop a standard exposure data review and scoring process that would be consistent across companies," said Ms. Clark. "For HomeWise, twenty-five specific data attributes were scored for resolution, completeness and accuracy, and nearly half of the data attributes and all of the highest weighted attributes scored at least 90 percent on completeness and accuracy. The IMARC™ scoring algorithm resulted in a score of 675 out of a possible 800 which according to the IMARC™ scale is Excellent."

"We value the IMARC™ Data Score because we factor data quality into our pricing and underwriting decisions," said Ian Branagan, Senior Vice President of Renaissance Re. "While we perform our own internal data checks, we value additional reviews as extensive and thorough as IMARC™. We are pleased that the industry has a new standard that can contribute to ongoing efforts to further enhance the quality of data utilized by the industry and to further a more consistent, robust understanding of catastrophe risk," continued Mr. Branagan.

For more information about the HomeWise IMARC™ assessment, click on the following link, http://www.karenclarkandco.com/page/home.htm

HomeWise, the home insurance specialists, participated in its second and third rounds of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) assumption in January 2008 and March 2008, respectively. HomeWise offered 13,671 policies to Florida homeowners in January, with an acceptance of 10,807 policies or 79 percent. Another 7,802 HomeWise policies were offered in March 2008, with an acceptance of 5,939 or 76 percent. HomeWise CEO & President Dale Hammond explained, 'The response to our homeowners coverage was overwhelming. Florida homeowners appreciate the choice of quality private-market insurance.'

In 2002, the Florida Legislature passed a law that combined the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association (FRPCJUA) and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association (FWUA). This resulted in the creation of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), which provides insurance to, and serves the needs of, homeowners in high-risk areas and others who cannot find coverage in the open, private insurance market.

Later, in an effort to reduce assessments charged to all Florida property owners for those homeowners in the Citizens program, the Florida Legislature created the state's Depopulation Program. The Depopulation Program reduces the number of property owners who have insurance coverage through Citizens by encouraging new or existing private insurance companies to take on Citizens policies. By transferring policies back to the private market, Citizens can reduce or eliminate the need for assessments to be charged to all Florida property insurance consumers. This process is referred to as an Assumption.